ML20134L332

Lpdr Update.Winter 1997.Volume 9,Number 1

ML20134L332
Person / Time
Issue date:	02/01/1997
From:	Linton T, Souder J NRC
To:
References
NUREG-BR-0057, NUREG-BR-0057-V09-N1, NUREG-BR-57, NUREG-BR-57-V9-N1, NUDOCS 9702190028
Download: ML20134L332 (4)

Text

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! s Dry Cask Storage, j { Multi-Purpose Canisters, and j

s Independent Spent Fuel s

ic Storage Installations i

*0 1 a I $ In 1977, under the Carter Administration, the U.S. defined the 3 4 Nation's policy regarding the permanent disposal of commercial i j nuclear power plant fuel by rejecting the option of reprocessing i

spent fuel. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 and

! the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act (NWPAA) of 1987 designated the Department of Energy (DOE) as the Federal t agency responsible for disposal of high-level waste (HLW) which V includes nuclear power plant spent fuel; the Environmental  ;

, E Protection Agency (EPA) as responsible for developing'appropri-

E ate environmental standards for high-level waste; and the NRC as

[

I j responsible for licensing activities related to the disposal and i h long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel. The NWPA calls for f DOE to begin accepting spent fuel from utilities in 1998; howev-

"". er, progress on a permanent waste-disposal site has been stalled.

4 s

I T Over the last decade, nuclear power plants have begun to move j t E used fuel from their spent fuel pools into dry cask storage or S r E independent spent fuel storage installations (ISFSis) on site.

. e i The NRC's Spent Fuel Project Office is responsible for reviewing existing and projected applications for storage and transportation

casks for certification. These casks may be developed by private

vendors or individual nuclear utilities.

] Most of the 110 operating nuclear power plants are storing used l

pl fuel in spent fuel pools (SFPs). Despite fuel pool retaking, i I: which,in some cases, has almost doubled the capacity of the E

SFPs, older plants are running out of storage room in their pools.

3 The most cost-effective and lowest maintenance method for

@a storing spent fuel is dry cask storage.

I N Regulations are in place for the design, testing, manufacture, and l _ E maintenance of casks used in dry storage. NRC is responsible for

.: 2 reviewing proposed cask designs to ensure that they will safely i 9 .2 confine the fuel and prevent fuel cladding degradation over a

] j 20-year period.

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Generally, casks are designed with a primary confinement vessel,

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m ill containing a steel or concrete overpack that guarantees both

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E structural strength and shielding. All casks are passive designs y E with no moving parts, and rely on convective cooling. Spent fuel v7 4- casks are analyzed fer both off-normal and accident conditions,

including cask tip-over and drop accidents.

U k

Currently, the following plants are storing older spent fuel ele- '

ments in dry cask storage systems in an ISFSI: Surry, Oconee, H.B. Robinson, Calvert Cliffs, Fort St. Vrain, Palisades, Point 9702190028 970201 PDR NUREO

BR-OO57 R PDR

Beach, Prairie Island, Davis-Besse and Arkansas Transportation, and the Department of Health Nuclear One. Future ISFSIs are planned at Oyster and Human Services, also have a role in tLe regu-Creek, North Anna, FitzPatrick, Trojan, Rancho lation of radioactive material.

l Seco, Dresden Unit 1, Yankee Rowe, and WNP-2.

l The NRC has also received a letter ofintent from The NRC regulates the management, storage, and DOE regarding its pursuit of an ISFSI license for disposal of radioactive waste produced as a result storing the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) of NRC-licensed activities. The agency has en-l core at a facility within the Id.aho National Engi. tered into agreements with 29 States, called

neermg Laboratory property. Agreement States, to allow these States to regu-

late the management, storage, and disposal of NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The preceding certain nuclear waste.

l information was taken from the NRC's Home l

Page on the WWW. Since I receive a number ( f The commercial radioactive waste that is regu-l inquiries each week on the issue of dry cask sur. lated by the NRC or the Agreement States and l age of spent fuel from LPDR librarians and the that is the subject of this brochure is of three basic public, I am including it in this issue of LPDR types: high-level waste, mill tailings, and low-i UPDATE. Information on other " Current Techni- level waste. This pamphlet provides separate l

cal Issues" is also available online at www.nrc. gov discussions of these three types of radioactive by first selecting " News and Information" from waste. (Excerpt from NUREG/BR-0216).

the menu. The documents cited in this article are . ..

available in the NUDOCS microfiche collections The Regulation and Use ofRadioisotopes

, at power reactor and high-level-waste LPDRs. in Today's World (NUREGlBR-0217)

Contact the NRC LPDR staff at 800-638-8081 for assistance in locating any of these docurrents. More than 100 years ago, scientists discovered that many elements commonly found m earth ccur in diHerent atonde con 5guradoMhese Public Affairs . Brochures varying configurations, called isotopes. had iden-l tical electronically charged particles and identical l The NRC Office of Public Affairs has published chemical properties, but different atomic weights two brochures that may be ofinterest to LPDR and physical properties.

staff and patrons, NUREG/BR--0216 and 0217. I Copies of these brochures for the LPDR collec- It was soon discovered that some isotopes of l tion are available upon request from the NRC elements were radioactive. The dense central '

LPDR staff at 800-638-8081, portion (called the nucleus) of an atom of the element emits energy in several different forms.  !

Radioactive Waste: Production, Storage, Radioisotopes are simply atoms with nuclei that ,

Disposal (NUREG/BR-0216) are seeking a more stable nuclear configuration by 1 i emitting radiation. Scientists have learned that Radioactive wastes are the leftovers from the use more radioisotopes could be created by subjecting l of nuclear materials for the production of electric- certain elements to radiation inside a nuclear l l ity, diagnosis and treatment of disease, and other reactor or bombarding them using a particle l l purposes. The materials are either naturally oc. accelerator. l

! curring or man-made. Certain kinds of radioactive .

materials, and the waste produced from using Gradually we have learned to harness these radio-these materials, are subject to regulatory control isotopes for use m our modern, high-tech world.

by the Federal Government or the States. In this brochure are described some of f.he most common uses for radioisotopes, as well as the The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible relative benefits and hazards involved in their for radioactive waste related to nuclear weapons applications. The appendix at the end of this production and certain research activities. The brochure describes various uses of radioisotopes l NRC and some States regulate commercial radio. in this country. (Excerpt from the Introduction of 4

active waste that results from the production of NUREG/BR-0217).

electricity and other non-military uses of nuclear materiai. LPDR Highlights Various other Federal agencies, such as the Envi- The Red Wmg Public Library, Red Wing, Minne-ronmental Protection Agency, the Department of sota, has been designated as a temporary local l 2

1 public document room for the proposed Prairie The list that follows summarizes the major new Island Nuclear Station offsite independent spent requirements and the time-frame in which they fuel storage installation (ISFS1). Notice of the are to be implemented:

establishment of the LPDR was published in the Federal Register on October 1,1996.

• Specifically includes electronic records in the definition of record and requires search of l c mPuter files as well as paper files under The Richland Public Library, Richland, Washing, FOIA (effective April 1,1997).

ton, LPDR for the Washington Nuclear Project, has been designated LPDR for records pertaining * ' Requires agencies to provide records in for-to the Department of Energy Hanford Tank Re- mat requested, including requests for electron-mediation System. The NUDOCS microfiche ic formats, if reasonably possible (effective collection at the library will hold the public re- April 1,1997).

cords issued for this project. Notice of the location of the LPDR was published in the Federal Register

• Requires agencies to indicate the amount of on November 29,1996. material withheld from a requester and, where technologically possible, to show where the deletion has been made (effective April 1, Remm. der 1997).

• Requires all public reading room materials All repairs or service on NRC-furnished micro- ,

fiche reader printers must be authorized in ad- [f r NRC this is the Public Document Room j vance in order for NRC to pay the repair bill. in Washington, D.C.) such as agency opinions  ;

and pohey statements created after Novem- '

Although the repair may require approval of a purchase order, which could delay the actual ber 1,1996, to be made available for pubhc repair, we will make every attempt to have the inspection pursuant to Section 552(a)(2) of the equipment serviced as quickly as possible. If the FOIA, m electronic form, and through on-hne library arranges for service on its own, please let access if possible (effective October 1,1997). l the NRC LPDR staff know to avoid sending some-

• Requires agencies to place records disclosed one to make a repair that has already been done. in an FOIA request in a public reading room If the library does request senice on its own, the (for NRC this is the PDR, Washington, D.C.)

library will be responsible for the cost of the when the agency determines that the records l repair. are likely to be subject to additional FOIA re-quests (effective October 1,1997).

Please remind patrons that the NRC Public Docu-ment Room in Washington, D.C., can provide

• Requires agencies to provide an on-line index photocopies of any publicly available NRC docu- of records released under prior FOIA requests ments. The current charge is $0.08/page, plus (effective December 31,1999).

postage. The PDR can also duplicate microfiche .

• Changes time limits from 10 days to 20 days at $0.75/ microfiche. The toll-free PDR telephone number is 800-397--4209. and permits negotiation with requester in exceptional circumstances (effective Octo-ber 1,1997).

Electronic FOIA of1996

• Allows agencies to publish regulations that l establish multi-track system for "first-in, first-The Electronic Freedom ofInformation Act out" processing (simple request track and Amendments of 1996 was signed into law on complex track) (effective October 1,1997).

October 2,1996, by President Clinton. The Act acknowledges the increase in the Government's

• Requires agencies to publish regulations al-use of computers and exhorts agencies to use new lowing expedited processing for " compelling

chnology to enhance public access to Govern- need" based on (1) threat to life or safety or meia information. The Office of Management and (2) persor.s primarily engaged in disseminating Budget Ss directed agencies to use electronic information to the public, when there is an ur-media and formats, including public networks, to gency to inform the public concerning actual make Government information more easily acces- or alleged Goverment activity (effective Octo-sible and useful to the public. ber 1,1997L 3

Responses to FOIA requests that are placed in the diffusion LPDR libraries. For further information NRC Public Document Room are also filmed onto on the FOIA contact the NRC LPDR staff at i

the NUDOCS rnicrofiche and are available at 800-638-8081.

j power reactor, high-level waste, and gaseous j Recent LPDR Visits i

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Michael Bowman, Science and Engineering James Kirkendall and Joyce Johnson, Humboldt Department, Branford Price Millar Library, County Library, Eureka, California, LPDR for the Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, Humboldt Bay Power Plant.

LPDR for the Trojan Nuclear Plant.

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' {Elgtg , . M LPDR UPDATE is published by the Local

- ' - - k ., , '! ' " I Public Doc; nent Room Program, U.S.

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Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Wash-C. g ~ '

ington, DC 20555,301415 6876. LPDR

1. % 4 IlOTLINE 800-638-8081. Teresa Linton, 1bA '

1 ~ M Editor 5

L l:{f . m ,. g 1

e [ M Changes of address or requests for sub-

• ~(.*

• g4 scriptions will be eccepted by mail or on the LPDR HOTLINE.

Kathy Knutson (left) and Grace Crisp, Richland Public Library, Richland, Washington, LPDR for the Washington Nuclear Project.

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